Movie Stirs Memories in Selma
The Golden Globe Awards are Sunday and one film that could pick up a few statues is Selma. The film depicts the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. This weekend, Paramount Pictures began free screenings in the movie’s namesake town in Alabama.
It’s half-an-hour until show time and the majority of seats are already taken at this showing at the Walton Theater in Selma. In the front row, in the far left seat is 85-year-old George Sallie. He’s black, grew up near Selma and was drafted as young man.
“Went to Korea fighting for someone else’s freedom and really I didn’t have freedom myself,” said Sallie.
Sallie says after he came back he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He lifts up his ball cap and points to a scar on his forehead — a memento of what’s known as Bloody Sunday. That’s the day in March 1965 when protestors were brutally beaten by police as they tried to cross Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Many people in the audience have firsthand connections with this history. Monique Williams was just a child then but remembers Annie Lee Cooper, who is played in the movie by Oprah Winfrey.
“I’m not quite sure how mama found her, but she was our housekeeper for about six months,” said Williams. “She was wonderful.”
Cooper was a civil rights activist most known for whacking the county sheriff at the time across the jaw.
Williams says she’s sure Cooper will come off great in the movie, but is a little uneasy about how white southerners will be depicted. Still she’s looking forward to it.
“I just think it’s a wonderful thing for Selma,” Williams said.
That’s because it took a special effort to bring this film here. The town doesn’t have a commercial movie theater.
Selma Mayor George Evans says it only makes sense the movie should be shown here and looked for a way to do it. He spoke with the filmmakers and the owner of a theater a few towns away. They made it happen in the city-owned auditorium. Evans says people first couldn’t believe the movie would be shown in Selma.
“But when we said the movie is going to be here and free, man, people just was overly elated over that,” said Evans.
Inside the theater, the audience is enraptured. They cheer. They sigh. And when the credits roll they applaud.
For Reverend F. D. Reese it brought back a lot of memories. He was head of the Selma movement then.
“I hope that people will understand the type of sacrifice that had to be made in order for us to enjoy…of the freedom we now enjoy today,” said Reese.
This is Terri Sewell’s third time seeing the film but the first with the hometown crowd. She represents Selma in Congress and is Alabama’s first black congresswoman. She especially wanted to see the movie with her parents.
“Mommy was literally in tears when she saw the reenactment of Bloody Sunday,” said Sewell. “And you know as I comforted her I said, ‘Isn’t it great that we are in a different space today.'”
Monique Williams agrees much progress has been made, but the film made her feel almost embarrassed. Teary-eyed she explains, yes she was a child, but oblivious to the injustice of segregation.
“I wish I could talk to Annie Lee Cooper today and just say, ‘Annie, I’m so proud of you,'” said Williams. “I think it sort of overwhelmed me as you can see.”
Several movie-goers remark about the need to take voting rights more seriously today. Some lament that race relations in America are still frayed. One native though says the voting rights marches needed to happen somewhere. He’s proud they happened in Selma.
Israel expands strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities
Early satellite imagery appears to show some damage at Iran's main site.
These catchy old songs aren’t as think as you drunk they are
People are drinking less these days, but drinking songs never go out of style. The Lomax Archive is dropping a new album of traditional songs this week.
Indian authorities begin investigating Air India crash in which 1 passenger survived
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is investigating the crash with help from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Authorities said Friday that the black box has been recovered.
Oil prices jump and stocks tumble following Israel’s attack on Iran
Israel's attack on Iran sparked the biggest jump in crude oil prices since Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Stocks fell sharply.
‘I just walked out’: The sole survivor of the Air India crash shares his story
Viswashkumar Ramesh was on his way home to London when tragedy struck. In hospital interviews, he explains how he made his way out of seat 11A — which isn't typically the safest part of the plane.
A 2nd judge halts more of Trump’s voting executive order
More than a month after a federal judge halted a key portion of President Trump's executive order on voting, another judge has ruled that additional provisions of the order need to pause as well.